Self/non-self: How can you tell if someone does or doesn't belong in a group?
Catalysis: match-making
DNA->RNA transcription: Why do you make copies of an important document instead of sending in the original? [ <- Katelen: did I remember this one correctly? ]
Chemiosmosis: letting people out of a crowded dance floor via a revolving door (which acts as a turbine)
Genes: like a recipe for a protein
Chromosomes: like a library
Recessives: like two lights in a hallway (on = dominant, off = recessive)
Rocks in a glass -> multigenic threshold traits (overfull -> mutant phenotype)
Some reasons why evolution matters:
Agriculture:
The source of improvements in agriculture, especially from QTL mapping
(for that matter, it's the source of agriculture, period)
Implications of GMOs, monoculture
Evolution of pesticide resistance
Disease and medical ties:
development of vaccines and drugs
Affects disease organisms and their interaction with immune systems, changing how we should deal with them (bacterial resistance / public health)
helps predict spread of disease (epidemiology)
Cancer as a byproduct of somatic evolution
The vertebrate immune system is itself an ongoing example of somatic evolution (clonal selection)
Some indication that the brain develops via selection of generated connections
Inherited conditions
Inherited "normal" traits
Manufacturing
Human directed evolution: chemical synthesis; production of energy (biofuels)
Tools for biologists:
"selection" experiments (versus "screen" experiments): Can save time by a factor of 1000x or more
Form follows function => we can infer function from form. (examples: DNA structure; protein motif identification) This is the basis of bioinformatics
For phylogenetics: lets you find nearest relatives; nearest relatives tend to share traits. Understanding which traits have a common origin affects inference of environmental forces, choice of model organisms.
Identifying organisms and their relationships:
helps understanding of forces in nature / ecology
lets us know just what organisms exist
helps identify population structure within a species (this includes humans)
helps figure out population history (this includes humans, too)
This lets us learn about historical constraints.
Ecology ties
importance of diversity
help support endangered species; how big a population is enough to be stable?
Life history theory (trade-offs to deal with constraints)
Game theory (interaction between different organismal strategies)
Helps resource management (fisheries)
Coevolution (host/parasite; symbiotic)
Human (accidental) impact on evolution of other organisms
Ideas/memes
Improvement through trial and error (genetic algorithms / importance sampling)
Inspiration for innovation (competition as productive; use of natural world as source of ideas)
Has inspired new methods of critical analysis (evolutionary perspectives on perception of art, music, literature, etc.)
understanding sexual selection has changed views of "natural" gender roles
Linguistic evolution: history of words, language use, manuscript versions
Social: "memes"
the evolution of ideas, jokes
More social stuff: evolution of society, economies, nations, ethical systems, religions, etc.
Evolutionary game theory applies to patterns of human behavior as well as to (other) natural populations
Serendipity
Most of the big jumps caused by science and technology have been a surprise.
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Some reasons why evolution matters:
Disease and medical ties:
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